Election Universe

3 elections to watch in 2019 – Part II

Afghanistan’s presidential elections were scheduled for April 2019, but they are now being postponed for at least a few months to address technical problems evident in recent parliamentary elections.

There is also the consideration that the Taliban, who have a presence in 70% of Afghanistan, might reject peace negotiations if elections were held before a deal could be made. According to a recent survey, many Afghans are pessimistic about the direction of the country with insecurity among the top concerns followed by the economy, poor jobs, and corruption. President Ashraf Ghani is expected to run for a second term, though the final list of candidates is not available yet.

Canada

In October 2019, Canada will hold its national elections, which are a series of regional and sub-regional elections. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party appears to have the advantage over the Conservative’s, Andrew Sheer, and the New Democratic Party’s, Jagmeet Singh. According to a recent national poll, the Liberals seem to be in the lead by 4%. The incumbent government points to a few achievements including middle-income tax cuts, the legalization of medically assisted deaths and medical marijuana, while main opponents are campaigning against the government’s carbon tax, even though it is supported by a majority of Canadians.

Indonesia

Indonesian presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for April 17, 2019. This will be the fifth national election since the 1998 democratic transition. As with the 2014 election, there are two leading candidates, incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will square off against retired general Prabowo Subianto. Widodo’s has nominated conservative cleric, Ma’ruf Amin, as his running mate. A major issue in the campaign has been the economy with Amin, who proposes deep tax cuts, highly critical of the Widodo policy of adding to the national debt. The economy has grown under Widodo though not as much as anticipated.